Kriti Mehrotra
With ABC’s/Hulu’s ‘The Housewife and the Hustler 2: The Reckoning’ exploring the tale of attorney Tom Girardi and his reality star estranged wife Erika Jayne, we get a truly gripping documentary. After all, it comprises not just archival footage but also exclusive interviews to really shine a light upon the way they’ve allegedly defrauded hundreds of unwitting individuals through his legal work. Amongst them was actually Danny Barnes, whose 1990s personal injury/negligence case against his employer soon ostensibly resulted in him being cheated out of a possible $2 million by the former.
Who is Danny Barnes?
It was back in 1961 that Danny was admittedly born in Los Angeles, California, to a middle-class working Black family, making it clear he has always been extremely proud of his background. In fact, he appreciated his roots as well as his upbringing to such an extent he followed in his father’s professional footsteps too; joining the aerospace, arms, defense, information security, plus technology-driven Lockheed Martin Corporation as a maintenance worker. The minimum wage at the time, per his own accounts was just over $3, but he was making a comparitively astounding $8, which meant he was leading a good life.
However, everything soon turned upside down for Danny as his father ended up passing away from cancer and he realized several of his co-working were also suffering from one disease or another. That’s when he began suspecting there was possibly some sort of harmful/poisonous chemical being used by the organization, just for his worries to be ignored for a long time. But alas, at the young age of 25, he himself begun having trouble breathing, and it came to light he had a massive mass right in the middle of his chest – even though he was so young, he had cancer too.
Danny hence went through radiation, surgeries, and the whole works, which fortunately landed him in remission, only for him to then decide he would go through a civil case against his employer. That’s when attorney Tom Girardi came into the picture despite the former not having contacted him, but he began to trust the expert upon looking at his impressive resume. Little did he know the lawyer would do the work to the bets of his abilities, only to then apparently steal the settlement fund for himself – out of a $33 million verdict with several plaintiffs, he received a mere $25,000.
In the months to follow, Danny actually spoke to Tom about what he felt he was owed and then conversed with several of his fellow plaintiffs too before going as far as to file a complaint against at the State Bar of California. However, owing to the attorney’s bribery as well as deep connections, none of the accusations against him were actually taken seriously, most of them were simply squashed within months, and that’s seemingly what happened here too. It’s why Danny has since seriously referred to Tom as “The Devil” and the State Bar of California as his unwavering “imps.”
Where is Danny Barnes Now?
Despite Danny having always been quite vocal against Tom, it wasn’t until 2020 that his allegations and concerns were taken seriously as the tangled web of the latter’s alleged frauds began unraveling. But alas, all this is almost a bit too little to late for this California native as he was diagnosed with cancer once again in 2023 – he’s doing everything in his power to fight it, but we do have to consider his age too (he’s 63 at the time). We do hope he’ll be able to bounce back in no time and see his “devil” face some justice, all the while hopefully, finally getting the funds he deserve, especially as Tom is currently awaiting trial for his purported criminal actions. Then maybe, Danny will also be able to fulfill his dream of moving into a nicer, quieter neighborhood in this city. We honestly wish him nothing but the best and are thus also sending our prayers to him.
Read More: Joe Ruigomez: Burn Survivor Remains Involved in Tom Girardi’s Case Today
